I asked a couple of small business owners I know if they no longer had to contribute to SS and Medicare for employees, would they give that amount to their employees as compensation. They both thought for a few moments and then said No--although one did look a bit sheepish about it.

Could you elaborate a bit?

Under your hypothetical situation the government will be out roughly $500B in revenue every year. Where was that money going to come from?

If the government simply decided to collect the same amount of money in payroll taxes, but did so by doubling the employee’s contributions, would your small business owners simply expect their employees to take the full hit themselves?